Party Like It's 1888
by AmazingLadar
Summary: A series of one-shots, one for every holiday when they come. I'll be doing the holidays I celebrate, but if there's one that you want me to include, review/PM me with the holiday date and name! Rated T for safety, no slash, unlikely to have spoilers.
1. New Year

**Hello lovelys! HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**I know I said I wouldn't be doing PsychFics until I finished one of my other fics, but I miss it too much. So, I've decided to start this little idea that I've been playing with.**

**This is basically a series of one-shots, one for every holiday (I'll be doing Holidays I celebrate, but if you want me to do one in particular, just PM or review with the date and the name of it). I'll do this for a whole year, and if it's successful, I'll carry on. I don't know.**

**That's it. Please review! **

* * *

New Year's Eve was possibly was possibly Shawn's favourite holiday. He loved all the holidays, make no mistake. He loved Halloween and Christmas and all the other holidays. But the New Year had so much to offer that the others just didn't.

Firstly, there was the countdown to midnight. When Shawn was young, this was his favourite part. He never got to stay past ten o'clock at night, and even that was rare. So, the thought of being able to stay up until midnight had made Shawn jump with joy. As he grew older, the countdown lost its magic that it used to have, but that didn't mean Shawn disapproved of it now. In fact, he liked it more. Mostly because when that countdown finally hit zero, he could grab Juliet, the woman he loved, and pull her into a kiss. Just like that, the year would start off great.

Then, there was the fireworks. Shawn loved fireworks, everything about them. As a boy, anything that went BOOM was bound to get his attention. Add a bit of colour and fire and Shawn couldn't take his eyes away from the masterpiece above his head. What better way could you ask to start the year?

The parties were amazing. They were always amazing. Everyone would drink themselves stupid, only to kiss someone at midnight that they'd regret in the morning. Awkward eye contact and uncomfortable conversations would ensue for the next couple weeks before things went somewhat back to normal. Shawn just loved to sit back and watch all of it happen in front of his eyes. It was like it was his own personal screening of a new movie made only for his eyes. He loved it.

And of course, last but not least, the promises of what they would do differently in the next year. They would stick to it for exactly two weeks before completely forgetting about it or deciding it was a horrible idea to begin with. It never lasted more than a month. There had been Gus' attempt at keeping a journal, Shawn's attempt at holding a job down for more than three months (this, of course, being before Pscyh had started up) and Henry's yearly attempt to stop getting into arguments with his son. Of course, that last one would never last more than two hours. At that point, he would realise how hopeless it really was.

So yes, Shawn loved New Year. He loved everything about it, and he always made sure that everyone else loved it as much as he did.

Of course, this time things weren't quite working out for the fake psychic.

It was December 31st, New Year's Eve. Shawn had jumped out of bed as soon as he realised what day it was. His sudden movement caused the bed to shake and woke up a very sleepy, very cranky, very sleep deprived Juliet. She cracked an eye open, a glare fixed on her face before Shawn could even get a word out.

"Shawn…" She complained, her voice filled with annoyance. "It is five in the morning. Go back to sleep."

"But Jules!" Shawn protested. "Don't you know what day it is?"

"It's the first day off I've had in weeks" Juliet answered. "And If you know what's best for you, it's also 'Juliet's-hibernation' day." She turned over and tried to get back to sleep. Shawn stared at her for a bit, before a smile crept on his face. He knew she had just solved a difficult, high profile case, and he honestly couldn't blame her for being a little cranky at the moment. So, he walked over to her side of the bed and kissed her forehead.

"Happy New Year's Eve" Shawn whispered, and then he walked out of the room.

He spent the next six hours either watching TV or digging around the fridge for something to eat. He had briefly considered going back to sleep, but the idea of New Years kept him up. So TV it was. Juliet didn't leave her room until eleven, which for her was _very_ late. She walked out of the room and saw Shawn lounging on the couch in front of the TV, Oreo crumbs covering the coffee table in front of him. She rolled her eyes and made her way to the kitchen, deciding to make proper breakfast.

As soon as Shawn heard the rattling of pans in the kitchen, he jumped up from the couch and ran to his girlfriend. She was standing with her back towards him, grabbing all the ingredients for pancakes. Shawn walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Shawn turned her around so he could go in for a kiss, but she quickly stopped him.

"Sorry, Shawn" Juliet said, her voice a little hoarse. "I think I'm coming down with something."

"I don't care" Shawn said, and tried for a kiss again. Juliet put her hand on his lips in an attempt to stop him again.

"I don't want to get you sick" she insisted.

"So… no kissing?" Shawn asked, somewhat incredulously against her hand, which was still on his mouth.

"Just for today" Juliet said with a smile. Shawn smiled back and accepted it, not wanting to upset Juliet. But inside, he was almost distraught.

So much for the kiss at midnight…

* * *

Gus and Shawn met up outside the Psych office at around two o'clock. That gave Gus enough time to finish his route without Shawn complaining, and it gave Shawn enough time to finish watching his favourite move, with his favourite girl by his side. He then left his bike outside Psych and then hopped into Gus' car to go get fireworks. It was New Year's Eve, after all. You couldn't have a party on New Year's Eve without fireworks. It was simply criminal!

They drove an extra half hour to their usual shop to get the best, legal fireworks. The party was organised by the Santa Barbara Police Department. It would be the dictionary definition of awkward if they showed up with illegal fireworks that they smuggled from some other country. They walked into the store, Shawn's usual grin even bigger than usual, and browsed the aisles.

To Shawn's complete and utter despair, he could find no fireworks in the shop. He looked around, and even sent Gus on his own to search for the fireworks, but nothing. Finally, Shawn gave up his searching and walked to the cashier.

"Hey, Gregg" Shawn greeted him.

"Shawn, Happy New Year!" Gregg greeted him back. Shawn spent almost twelve years buying fireworks from the same shop, they were bound to be on a first name basis by now.

"Where are all your fireworks, man? It's New Year's Eve."

"You answered your own question, Shawn" Gregg said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's New Year's Eve. They're all sold out." This made Shawn freeze.

"Sold out?"

"Yeah."

"How can they be sold out?"

"Well… people came in, they bought them, and now, there are none left."

"Nothing at all? Not even some Fountains?"

"Sorry, Shawn. I think I have some Sparklers in the back, if you're-"

"No!" Shawn almost shrieked. "I'm not buying _sparklers_!"

"Shawn" Gus warned from the back. Shawn took a deep breath.

"Sorry, Gregg" Shawn said quickly. "I get a little excited this time of the year. Are you _positive_ there are none left…"

"Yeah" Gregg insisted. "I just sold the last bunch to a blonde lady an hour ago." Shawn hung his head in defeat.

"Thanks anyways, Gregg" Shawn said. "Come on, Gus. Let's go see if any other store has fireworks."

"It's New Year's Eve" Gregg said again. "I'm pretty sure everyone is out of fireworks at this time."

Shawn didn't listen and walked out of the store, Gus trailing behind him. They drove around for the next hour, searching for a store that sold fireworks. It was in vain, however, as Gregg was right. No fireworks for sale.

So much for the epic fireworks…

* * *

Two hours later found Shawn and Gus pulling into the Police Department. They both got out of the car and made their way through the front doors. Shawn was still devastated on losing his midnight kiss and his fireworks, but he refused to let that bring his whole day down. This was still his favourite holiday of the year. And besides, there was still the party to look forward to, the drunken idiots to watch and the empty promises to make. It wasn't completely ruined. Not yet.

They both made their way towards one desk in particular, knowing that if anyone would be here on this wondrous holiday, it would be Lassiter.

Carlton looked up when he heard the front doors open and groaned at the site of the Psychic and his sidekick walking through his doors. When they finally planted themselves in front of his desk, it took everything Carlton had not to kick them out right then and there. He would wait at least a minute to do that, just out of curiosity to what they could be doing here.

"What?" Carlton asked, not fully looking up from his paperwork.

"Lassie-pants!" Shawn said, acting offended. "I've done nothing to deserve that tone."

"You're standing in front of me, aren't you?"

"Harsh, Lassie."

"Spencer, you have less than one minute to tell me why you're here before I pull out my gun."

"Woah, alright. Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed tonight. I hope you're in a better mood tonight."

"Tonight? What's tonight?"

"Why, it's New Year's Eve, Lassie! Don't tell me you forgot!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The party. I convinced Chief to throw one a couple months ago, don't you remember?"

"I seem to recall you begging on your knees for that, yes" Carlton agreed. "But it's not happening."

"Come on, Son! Of course it's happening! She said yes, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. But Department Socials are always dependent on the amount of work and cases we have. So this year, it's not going to happen."

"What are you talking about? You just finished a high profile case."

"Exactly. Do you have any idea how much paperwork and reports come with cases like that? And we have the mayor constantly breathing down our necks to get it all done before the New Year, so everyone who wasn't lucky enough to get a day off tonight has to work until it's done. Not to mention we have to clean up the mess you two idiots caused when you disrupted the parade yesterday."

"We didn't cause _that_ much of a disruption."

"You crashed the parade float."

"Only because that psycho was chasing us with a knife!"

"The fundraiser was ruined. And people were hurt."

"And I could have died!"

"The party isn't happening tonight, Spencer." Shawn opened his mouth to argue more, but a nudge from Gus told him maybe it wasn't such a good idea. The detective carried a gun, after all maybe it was bet not to push the subject anymore.

So much for the party…

* * *

The Blueberry was slowly making its way to the Jamba Juice closest to the Psych office. Shawn was sitting in the passenger seat, his arm resting on his leg and his head leaning on the window. He stared out at the scenery that they drove by, not taking in any of it. So far, his New Year's Eve was ruined. No kiss, no fireworks, no party, no drunks. All he really had was Gus, Jules and, if he was really desperate, his father. Which, he supposed, wasn't _that_ bad. Could be worst.

"So, um… Shawn?" Gus tried cautiously.

"What?" Shawn replied, glumly.

"I was just wondering… I mean, if there's no party… I might spend New Years with my family this year." Shawn moved his head from the window, but continued to stare out it. "It's just… Joy made a surprise visit a couple days ago, and she's here until the 4th. I haven't seen her in a while, and she really wanted to spend New Years with me." Shawn should have seen that coming. He forced a smile on his face and looked at Gus.

"Sure, buddy" he said as happily as he could. "But you're buying smoothies today."

"Like I wasn't going to do that anyways" Gus muttered. Shawn turned back to his window and watched everything again. The traffic ahead of them caused Gus to stop his car and wait for a moment. At this point, the Psych office was in view, and that's when Shawn saw her.

"Oh, hell no" Shawn muttered. He unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door and started to get out.

"Shawn? Shawn! Get back in the car!" Gus yelled after his friend, but Shawn didn't listen. Instead, he ran to the Psych office, to his Norton, where a traffic cop was giving him a ticket.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Shawn yelled as he got closer to his bike. Right when arrived by his bike, the traffic cop just ripped off the ticket ready to place it on the Norton. "You can't be serious!" Shawn yelled.

"Sir, this is a permit only parking area" the woman said. "If you didn't want a ticket, you shouldn't have parked here.

"I have a permit!" Shawn yelled. "That office right there" Shawn pointed at the Psych office, "that is my building! I own it with my partner, I have a permit, I legally parked my bike here! You are _not_ giving me a ticket!"

"If you really did have a permit to park here, you would have been given a sticker to put on your bike to avoid this situation."

"I do have it!" Shawn insisted, remembering exactly what it looked like (and also remembering Gus' constant reminders to put it on his bike). "It's probably just inside my office, or at home."

"Sir, I've already written your ticket" and with that, she held her arm out with the ticket, trying to give it to Shawn.

"This is bullshit!" Shawn snatched the ticket out of her hands. "I'm not paying for this!"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down." It was at this point that Gus and the Blueberry finally arrived. Gus opened his door and hurried to Shawn's aid.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Gus asked.

"Sir, do you have a permit to park here?" the woman asked Gus.

"Of course I do, I own that office" he said, pointing at the Psych office. The woman looked at Gus' windshield and found the permit sticker she was looking for.

"Is he your partner?" the woman asked, pointing to Shawn.

"Yeah."

"Tell your partner to sort out his permit."

"I have a permit!" Shawn insisted. "You're just being a colossal bi-"

"Shawn!" Gus cut in quickly. He took in the offended expression of the traffic cop. "You'll have to excuse my friend, he's been having a horrible day. I'll make sure he sorts out his permit and pays his fine."

"I'm not paying for _anything_!"

"I promise" Gus assured her. The traffic cop glared at Shawn and Gus before making her own way. "Come on, Shawn. Let's go get you a pineapple smoothie."

So, they both started walking towards Jamba Juice, Shawn muttering and complaining about his ticket the entire way there. Gus felt for him, he did, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He had already promised to pay for half of it, because in all fairness, Shawn _did_ have a permit. And plus, Shawn was having a bad day already. He needed something to lift his spirits.

They got to Jamba Juice, Shawn already starting to feel a bit better about his day. They waited in line for around five minutes, which for a busy shop like this was pretty good. They finally got to the counter and placed their orders.

"Sorry, guys" the barista said. "Our blender broke this morning. We aren't able to make any smoothies at the moment. Can I interest you in one of our juices or maybe one of our baked goods?" Shawn stared at the barista for a moment, before something inside him just snapped.

"The blender is broken?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"The _blender_ is broken?" the barista just looked at Shawn oddly.

"Shawn…" Gus warned.

"How… How the _hell_ can a shop that specialises in _smoothies_ have a broken blender?!"

"Shawn, come on, let's just go" Gus tried.

"No, Gus. Let's hear this fabulous explanation. Please, tell me! Maddie! Tell me how the hell the blender can be broken!"

"I… I only got here twenty minutes ago" Maddie the barista said quietly.

"You do realise this company is here _because_ of its smoothies, right? No one gives a damn about your juices or your energy drinks or your baked good that just sit in glass case all day. No one cares! All they want is some damn smoothie, which you at the moment cannot provide! How can you be so incompetent to not even be able to produce the _one_ thing you're meant to?!

"Hey everyone!" Shawn started to call out to everyone waiting in line. "You might as well take your money and get the hell out of here! The _blender_ is broken! No smoothies for anyone!" Shawn started to make his way towards the exit "You know something's wrong when you can't even get a _smoothie_ in a smoothie _shop!"_ he continued to yell. Shawn pushed open the doors. He quickly turned and faced the barista again. "Oh, and before I forget, have a fantastic New Year. Thanks for _nothing!_" and with that, Shawn was gone, leaving an awkwardly silent Jamba Juice behind him.

Everyone now stared at Gus, who still stood in front of the counter, offering his best smile to the barista before doing some damage control

* * *

Shawn got back to his and Juliet's place at eight o'clock, a couple hours after his outburst. He had intended to go for a short drive to clear his head, but ended up needed a few hours to calm himself down. When he finally opened the door to his only area of peace for the day, he threw his helmet and keys on the floor, kicked off his shoes and made a beeline for the couch. He flopped down on it and wished for the couch and floor to swallow him whole. It had been one of his worst days ever, and he just wanted to forget about it, even if it was his favourite holiday.

"Shawn…" Juliet's voice rang out in their home. "It's New Year's Eve, what are you doing home? I thought you'd be out preparing with Gus."

"Today sucks" Shawn mumbled into the couch's pillow. Juliet barely heard him, but managed to piece together what he was trying to say.

"Oh, come on" Juliet said, making her way to her depressed boyfriend and sitting on the coffee table in front of his couch. "It can't be that bad."

"Oh really?" Shawn sat up to face his girlfriend and was about to go on a rant on everything that had happened to him that day, but stopped when he noticed what Juliet was wearing. A tight, sleeveless yellow dress that went up to her mid-thigh. Her hair was straightened and let down. Shawn narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Oh… well, I… um…" Juliet sighed. "Just follow me." And she started to walk towards their room. Curious, Shawn stood up and followed her in. She went to his closet and pulled out a white collared shirt and black dress pants. "Put those on" she instructed. Shawn raised an eyebrow at her. "Just do it." So while Shawn changed into his nicer clothing, Juliet pulled out her phone and sent a text, something that didn't go unnoticed by Shawn.

"Am I decent?" Shawn asked once he was fully dressed.

"Very decent" Juliet agreed with a peck on his lips. "Now come with me, bring everything you need."

"Everything I need? For what?" But Juliet didn't say anything, she just headed towards the front door. Shawn shrugged and grabbed his essentials, wallet, phone, house keys. He then walked out the front door and found Juliet waiting in her car. Even more intrigued, Shawn closed and locked the door behind him before getting into the car with his girlfriend. Juliet then pulled out a tie and wrapped it around Shawn's eyes.

"Just trust me, okay?" Juliet said. Shawn nodded his head and allowed her to finish up.

Juliet then started to drive to their next destination. Shawn assumed she must have been taking lots of unnecessary roads and turns, because while Shawn tried to keep up with the roads she took in his head, he eventually lost track of where they were. Now he really did have to trust her.

When they finally arrived an hour and a half later, Juliet walked over to Shawn's side and opened the door for him. She held his hand and guided him towards the front door of their mystery location. She lead him inside for a couple of steps before she stopped.

"Okay, ready Shawn?" Juliet asked.

"Despite the fact that I have no idea what's going on, sure" Shawn said. Juliet let out a small laugh before removing the tie around Shawn's eyes.

"SURPRISE!"

At that, Shawn actually jumped a bit.

They were in the Psych office. Every inch of wall was decorated, a New Years theme clear all around them. The kitchen area in the first half of the office was filled with food. All types of food, that just looking at it made Shawn's mouth water. The desks that usually took up most of the space were pushed to the side to make space for all the people. Almost everyone was there. Lassiter, Marlowe, Woody, Buzz, Gus, Henry, Chief Vick… everyone was there.

"What's going on?" Shawn asked, a big smile forming on his face.

"We knew how much you love New Years, so we all wanted to make this year special for you" Juliet explained.

"We tried to make it seem like it would be a bad day to start with" Gus explained. "So that when we surprised you with this, it would be even more special. But then… things started to get out of hand."

"Yeah, I heard about your little break down at Jamba Juice" Lassiter said with a smirk on his face. "I wish I could have seen that."

And just like that, Shawn's horrible day turned into one of the best days of his life. He got his party filled with drunk friends. He got his fireworks (which, as it turned out, Marlowe had quickly gotten before Shawn and Gus turned up at the story). They turned on the TV at eleven thirty for the countdown, and they all screamed out the numbers along with the TV.

And when that countdown finally reached zero, Shawn got his midnight kiss too.

Yeah… Shawn loved New Years.


	2. La Befana

**Hello lovelys! So… I have sacrificed my sleep to get this up, because I love holidays, and this used to be my favourite holiday when I was a kid. It's an Italian holiday that I haven't celebrated in **_**years! **_**It is celebrated the 6th of January.****  
**

**Consider this a fair warning! It starts off a little dark… not entirely sure how that happened, but it gets light and fluffly really quickly.**

**So enjoy this different holiday (that I'm not sure other countries celebrate…) and of course, don't forget to review!**

* * *

It had been a crazy past couple weeks for the Psych duo. They had their first private case in what seemed like months. This time, it was one they really couldn't involve the police, much of an annoyance as it was to a certain pharmaceutical salesman. It had also caused a big fight between Shawn and Juliet, as the detective felt that Shawn was keeping another secret from her. While technically that was true, he was keeping his client's secret from her, it wasn't quite the secret Juliet had in mind. After a couple days of talking, the detective finally accepted that she couldn't expect Shawn to reveal his client's secrets.

Their latest client, one Chiara Formicello, was an Italian, born and raised. She had moved to Los Angeles when she was seventeen, after a man promised her a future in show business. The Formicello family didn't have a lot of money. In fact, Chiara's youngest brother could barely afford his books for class, and this was after Chiara had dropped out of school and got a job. This man who promised fame and fortune was her and her family's ticket out of poverty and into the good life.

It was only when she arrived in California that she realised that when he said "show business" he actually meant strip clubs.

She had gone along with it, only because she had nowhere to go. She had no home, not a penny to her name and he had stolen her passport. It wasn't until Grace, Chiara's only friend and guide through her whole ordeal, had mysteriously disappeared that the Italian decided to put a stop to the whole madness that had overtaken her life. She tried to go to the police before, but there was nothing they could do about her situation, and since then she never trusted them.

Chiara had read in the papers of a psychic detective only a couple hours away who had a near perfect solve rate. So, she skipped work and hitch hiked her way to Santa Barbara and pick locked her way into the Psych office. She certainly gave Shawn and Gus a bigger shock than they had ever gotten before when they opened the doors to their office late at night only to be greeted by a soaking wet young girl, her clothes showing more skin than fabric.

They got her a robe, listened to their story and immediately took her case, despite the fact that she had no money to pay her. They took the case on principle and vowed to get to the bottom of this mess and help this girl out.

Three weeks later, they finally solved the case. They found Grace just in time to save her life and put the bastard that not only kidnapped her, but brought all the girls to America to his strip club in the first place. Chiara got her friend back, got her dignity and finally got her life back.

Already in sunny California and not able to afford a ticket home, Chiara decided to stay and get a steady job. It wasn't even a full week into the new year, and already Chiara's life was taking a huge turn in the right direction.

"Knock, knock" Chiara's voice rang out happily in the Psych office. Shawn and Gus turned to face her, a smile quickly spreading on their face.

"Chiara!" Gus exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here?" Chiara just held out the stockings filled with treats.

"I've come with gifts from La Befana!" She exclaimed, her Italian accent thick as ever.

"The who?" Shawn asked, grabbing the stocking with his name on it anyways.

"La Befana" Chiara said again. "She comes every year on the eve of L'Epifania to give toys and candy to the good children."

Gus dug into his stocking and happily pulled out caramel candy and jelly beans from his stocking. He smiled like a giddy child and ripped open his candy. Shawn, meanwhile, just looked at his candy in shock.

"What the hell is this?" he asked incredulously. Chiara just laughed.

"It's rock candy" she explained. "The good children get candy from La Befana. Bad children get coal."

"Are you calling us children?" Gus asked.

"More importantly, are you saying I've been a bad child?" Shawn asked.

"Yes. And yes."

"Well, I'm offended" Shawn said, his hand flying to his heart.

"You shouldn't be" Gus said.

"Name one bad thing I've done this year" Shawn challenged.

"You lied to the police, you steal my food, you're lazy, you ignore your dad, you're selfish-"

"_This _year Gus. It's a new year, buddy."

"I was only referring to the last week, Shawn." Shawn tsked loudly and took his rock candy with what little pride he had left. Chiara just laughed at the duo.

"So this woman just comes and gives kids candy?" Gus asks, his mouth full of caramel. "Why would she do that?"

"It's legend" she explained. "La Befana was an old woman who spent her time cleaning. One day, the magi stop at her house, asking for directions to the baby Gesù. She turned them away. Later, she sees a star and believes that that's the way to baby Gesù. She follows the star with gifts to give to the baby, but she gets lost. To this day, she looks for the baby. She visits every house with a child and leaves a gift."

"Well, I'm not sure if that's depressing or cute" Shawn said, putting more rock candy in his mouth. Chiara laughed again.

"It's a time when you can look at the past year and start again new" Chiara said, a small frown spreading on her face as she thought about her past couple months. "It's a chance to start over." Chiara looked down and had a small smile again, but it was clear in her eyes she was still upset.

"Chiara?" the young girl looked up at the duo again and forced her smile to be bigger.

"Auguri, boys" she said happily, then she turned to walk out the door, wanting to be alone.

"Hey, Chiara" Shawn called out. The young girl turned quickly towards the two boys. Shawn threw a stocking of his own towards Chiara, who only just caught it. "Auguri" Shawn said, with a sneaky smile on his face.

"What's this?"

"It's a gift from The Befane" Shawn explained. Chiara raised an eyebrow at his pronunciation. "It's not much, but it's a start." Chiara looked inside the stocking and pulled out a small stack of cash.

"Shawn!" Chiara exclaimed. "I can't-"

"Are you really going to refuse The Befane's gift?" Chiara blinked a few times before she finally ran up to Shawn and pulled him into a big hug.

"Grazie" she whispered in his ear. She pulled away from the hug and started to walk back out the door. "voi due siete meravigliosi. Grazie." Quickly brushing the tears out of her eyes, she quickly walked out the door.

Gus turned towards Shawn.

"How did you know about this holiday?" Gus asked his best friend.

"I used to work at an Italian winery in Toronto. They made a pretty big deal about it." Shawn looked at the rock candy in his hand. "Surprisingly enough, this is the same candy _they _gave me. I think I'm doubly offended now." Gus rolled his eyes at his friend.

"How much money was in that stocking?"

"A couple hundred." Gus' eyes popped out, then he glared at Shawn.

"You didn't pay the cable bills, did you?"

"Nope."

"Shawn!"


	3. Valentine's Day

**Hello lovelys! **

**It feels weird to take months in between updates and not feel even a little bit guilty about it. Because, after all, it's for each holiday. There's nothing in between January and February (well, actually, there is, but I don't really celebrate it much).**

**I would just like to point out, views in this chapter are my own, don't take offense if you absolutely love Valentine's Day or anything like that.**

**So please review! And I'll see you next month for St. Patrick's Day! Let me know if there's a holiday in between that you love/celebrate!**

* * *

Today was the day of love. It was the universal day of everyone getting together and showing one another how much they really loved each other. It was the day that couples would meet up and give each other kisses, of the chocolate variety and other sorts. It was the day of indulgence. The men would indulge the women with chocolate and flowers, while the girls would treat the men with sexy, skimpy outfits. It was the day people would show their significant others just how much they loved them.

At least, that's the lie everyone told themselves to make it seem alright.

Valentine's Day was nothing but a horrible day trying to make every single person on the planet feel terrible. It didn't matter if you were single or dating or in a complicated mess of things that you couldn't even describe. Valentine's Day was the worst day of the year. And no one believed that more than one Head Detective Carlton Lassiter.

The Head Detective sat behind his desk at the precinct. There weren't many lovey dovey couples there at that moment, and for that he was thankful. But every now and then, a new couple would come in. They would be holding hands, or maybe they'd be staring in each other's eyes, or maybe they'd even exchange a kiss. And Carlton would growl under his breath and focus all his attention onto his much hated paperwork. It was better than dealing with this romance crap.

Valentine's Day to him was nothing but a materialistic way of showing what many assumed was love for each other. Men bought women chocolate and flowers because the alternative was a fight. Women then paid them back in the bedroom after a couple glasses of wine. And that was enough for a whole year. A day that should be dedicated to love was instead dedicated trying to match the commitment other people showed in their relationship.

Carlton hated Valentine's day. For numerous years, he had to deal with people telling him off for his hate of the day. They'd always say "Oh, but if you had someone, you would love this day". Those people were almost as bad as the holiday itself. A certain partner of his was especially fond of that little comment.

And speak of the devil, there she was. Twenty-three minutes late, Juliet O'Hara walked into the station. She walked past Carlton, muttering a quiet greeting before running to her desk.

"You're late, O'Hara" Carlton noted.

"I know, sorry" she said with a smile on her face. "Shawn surprised me this morning with a Valentine's treat today. I woke up to roses everywhere, and then a trail of rose peddles leading to the kitchen, where Shawn had actually cooked a whole –"

"O'Hara" Carlton cut her off. "I don't care. I never have, I never will. There's a lot of paperwork to sort through. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can go home and the sooner this horrible day can be over."

"Aw, Carlton" Juliet pouted as she sat down. "I thought with Marlowe around you'd like this holiday a bit more. Even a little bit?"

"No" he said with complete honesty. "The presence of my honeybunny changes nothing."

"I'm sure Marlowe would like to celebrate Valentine's day with you."

"No, she wouldn't."

"Have you asked?"

"I don't need to." Juliet let out a deep sigh.

"I give up" she muttered, and then she reached for top file on her ever growing pile of paperwork. Carlton nodded at his partner before turning back to his own work. He was done with that conversation.

* * *

After six long hours of paperwork, Carlton finally made his way back home. His day went on relatively undisturbed. The entire day, only three men came in delivering roses to women, and Spencer only came in once. He ran quickly to O'Hara's desk with her favourite take out and made sure she felt love. While he hated this damn day and the psychic was a pain in his ass since day one, Carlton couldn't deny that he was happy with the attention his partner was getting.

He had always been worried that Spencer wouldn't treat her right, that he would get bored after a couple weeks and leave her. Carlton was actually happy to be proven wrong. If Juliet was happy, he was happy. He just hoped she'd spare him the details tomorrow.

Carlton shook his head and tried to forget everything of this day. He just wanted to curl up with his wife and go to sleep like they always did.

He pushed open the door to his house and walked inside, kicking the door shut behind him and tossing his keys onto the side table. He walked into his living room and found his beautiful Marlowe sitting in front of the TV, holding two different DVD's in her hand.

"Hey, baby" Carlton said with a smile on his face.

"Hi, sweetie" Marlowe said smiling back at him. "How was work?"

"Tedious. How was your day?"

"Boring." She turned back to the TV. "Now, which Clint Eastwood movie should we watch? I was debating between the good old classic Heartbreak Ridge or one of his newer works Gran Torino." Carlton just stared at his wife, the love he felt for her clear as day.

When Marlowe didn't get a response, she turned back towards Carlton. "Baby?"

"Hmm?"

"You alright?"

"Of course. Sorry, long day. I'm a bit tired."

"You still want to watch a movie?"

"Of course I do. It's movie day" Carlton assured and made his way to the kitchen, where the takeout Marlowe had already ordered was sitting waiting for him. He prepared to plates of food and then headed back to the living room where Marlowe was now sitting on the couch, movie on screen.

"I decided to go with the classic" Marlowe explained.

"Always a good choice" Carlton agreed. He handed Marlowe her plate and then sat down beside her.

They ate in silence, completely entranced in the movie that both of them could recite nearly word for word. Once they finished their food, they place the plates on the coffee table and Marlowe made her way in to Carlton's arms. He held her in his arms and they watched their favourite movie in silence.

You see, it wasn't the fact that Carlton hated love or romance. In fact, he loved it. He always enjoyed the romantic gesture, the acts of love. He really did love it all. What he hated was the fact that people assumed that they could squeeze all their love into one gesture on one day and call it quits for the rest of the year. Love wasn't about how you spent one, tiny, unimportant day. Love wasn't about how much you spent on a particular gift. Love wasn't a contest. Love was simply being with that one person, never feeling like you have to be nice and good, but always wanting them to be happy.

As far as Carlton and Marlowe were concerned, February 14th was just another day of the year, and they planned on going through it as they did with all the other days in the year.


End file.
